New kittens

My dad was doing some work today and found some kittens in a pile of manure.  There mom was dead.  He was heart broken for the kittens so he took them to the vet and then brought them by our house.  

What a sweet man!  

But wait!!! 

He left without the kittens.  What??? We are getting kittens?

The kids are loving the kittens, who have been given names already: Nathan and Natalie.  So original.  I guess they like their names enough to give them to the kittens.

So now we are going to learn to feed these little darlings (they are 3 weeks old from the vets estimate), help them pee and poop (seriously?), and give them daily baths.  But really, there isn't much cuter than a baby kitten.  So we're excited.

UPDATE:  Those little kittens are much bigger now.  And they live outside at my parents house.  They are by far the friendliest cats I have ever been around.  They let all of the kids pick them up, even Andrew who picks them up by a foot, the neck, etc.  When he puts them back down they just purr and curl around his legs.  They follow us around and often times follow my parents or the kids back to our house.  My mom has nicknamed them Butterball 1 and Butterball 2.  Fitting names as they are fluffy, darling cats.

A Sweet Picnic

Natalie set up a wonderful picnic for Foofa and Brobie.  We are loving to watch and encourage her imaginative side.  She is just so fun to interact with.

Pool Time in April???

I feel like we had a "hard" winter.  All that snow. It was great, we loved it.  But we are also sucking the marrow out of each beautiful spring day.  We're also SO thankful for having hot water outside.  

Yay for warm water in April.

Natalie giving love to her little sister.  What a sweet big sister she is.

Baby turkeys.

Papo brought home a fresh group of baby turkeys.  The kids are so lucky to get exposure to baby animals.

My little ducklings holding baby turkeys.  How cute.

Frog catching

Hello Huge Frog!  We catch a lot of frogs in the spring time.  But this guy must have just enjoyed his version of  Thanksgiving dinner.  Wow.

Checking in on Abigail

The upside to Abigail's diagnosis is all of the extra ultrasounds.  What a blessing to spend time watching her every few of weeks.

We love this picture of her foot.

So thankful for Abigail's continued growth and strength.

Easter

Trever and I each have different strengths when it comes to creating magic for the kids.  He does such a great job of  encouraging the magic of Easter.

Andrew making us think he might want to participate in the egg hunt.

Nathan and Natalie taking a moment to compare eggs.

I love the excitement in this picture.

Andrew was clearly not super interested in eggs.  But he still likes the treats that he finds inside.

There is such a tenderness between these two. So precious.

Desert 100

When I was learning to spell I remember the trick for desert v. dessert.  You want more dessert, so it gets two "s".

That rule might not hold true for Trever when it comes to dirt biking.  This year he participated in the Desert 100 for the second time.  It's a grueling 100 mile ride.  They love it, if not the moment they are done then soon after.

Trev's friend from high school, Jason, joined them for part of the fun this year.

April Picnic

A glimpse of the sun means it's time to get outside and enjoy a picnic.  

Egg Salad and Easter treats made the picnic even more special.

It's good for me to remember that it doesn't take much to delight the hearts of my children.  

Easter fun at the firestation

I feel like our years are starting to have an anticipated rhythm.  From one tradition to the next. I love it. I want to find new traditions to tuck into the spaces that are left open.

Enjoying the McLane Fire Department Easter egg hunt is a fun tradition.  Rain or shine.  And actually, when it rains it's almost more fun.  Almost.

Andrew is still learning the art to an egg hunt.  It was nice that he didn't have much competition this year.

Thankful for the help of grandparents.  Last year we had both sets, maybe we'll get lucky again next year.

Natalie got to hunt with Papo, Nathan got Gagi and Andrew and I had fun together.

The big kids had buckets that were overflowing with eggs.  Andrew was just happy to have eggs in his hands.  Once he learned that there was candy in the eggs he started wanting lots more ;)

Loving family time, missing Daddy.

Not a happy little boy.

So many fun things to do at the fire station.  Andrew was much happier with the real (and smaller) bunny.

It's so fun watching Nathan as he turns into a "big kid".  He's really able to appreciate and participate in new, fun activities.  And he's super sweet to his sister, inviting her along and encouraging her.